For the Love of the Game
by Dannigar
Summary: My name is Kyla Everdeen. I am sixteen years old. I have a twin sister named Katniss Everdeen. My sister and I volunteered to be in the 75th Annual Hunger Games. There is no going back.
1. Prologue

**A/N: So, anyone miss me? Probably not. I bet you all want to pelt me with tomatoes for not updated any of my other stories. Well, I'm **_**REALLY**_** sorry about that. It's just school has been a hassle these last few months and I rarely ever have time to get on my laptop and write another chapter for any of my stories. So instead, I'm going to start this story whose idea has been bugging me for a **_**LONG**_** time now. So, without further ado, I hope you will enjoy this and don't forget to read and review! **

**Disclaimer: The Hunger Games does not belong to me in any way. Only MY characters belong to me, along with everything else that I create or make up.**

-OoO-

**For the Love of the Game**

Prologue

They were always known for being together. The two were never apart, nor separate. Always they went and came back with each other. And they looked just alike, except for the eyes. One had grey, the other had blue. Even though they shared this one distinction, no one could ever tell them apart. Their names were, so to say, Katniss and Kyla.

The twin girls were always known for being outside, playing with two leather gloves their father had fashioned out of deerskin, and a small ball made of twine, which was covered in more soft leather. They would play catch down in the meadow, and come home covered in grime from too much running (in their mother's opinion) and sliding in effort to catch a low thrown ball. The game, though they didn't know it, was called 'baseball' back before the Dark Days.

The town girls from school called them weird and "boyish", while the boys thought they were anything they could have ever wanted in a girl. Katniss was known as the older and quieter one of the two, while Kyla was known for being the younger one, but more open and friendly with others.

In school, they defended each other from as far as the school bully to the obnoxious boys and girls that always poked fun at them. They helped each other with what seemed like ever growing homework each night, while still finding time to go play a round of catch with their gloves and (what they called) their baseball, and finishing up the evening out in the forest where they would hunt for their family's evening meal.

At the age of eleven, when their father died in a mining accident, and their mother retreated into herself, the twins took it upon themselves to protect and take care of their little sister, Primrose, and whatever pieces were left of their family. They hunted every day after school and were finding less and less time each day to follow their passion, the game of baseball.

Years earlier, when they were nine, their father had helped them put together two bats made of wood from the bark of the forest trees. Immediately afterward, the two had tried them out and found that they loved them. They hid them away somewhere where no one could find them, and only took them out when they were to practice with them. But what hurt the most, especially to the twins, was that just weeks before their father's untimely demise, he had returned home with two baseball caps, one green and one blue, just for his girls. The two had thanked him so many times in the days that followed, and still wondered how he had spared the money to purchase two very expensive baseball caps. They waved off the thought, though.

So even now, at the age of sixteen, the twin's love for the game of baseball had not decreased, but had more than likely increased! Yes, they still missed their father, who they knew was in a better place, but they knew things were getting better. Their mother was slowly coming back to her old self (or what was possible to), and they were beginning to find more and more time to practice with their gloves and bats. But what they didn't know was that fate was just about to take turn for the worst.

-OoO-

**A/N: So, do you like it so far? You can let me know in a review that would brighten my day so very much… or you can leave a story alert, or favorite story alert. That works too. **

**;)**


	2. Part 1: Chapter 1

**A/N: Alright, so here we go. Next chapter! It would really help me write faster if I were to get a few reviews. Please, guys; reviews just make my day. If you could really do that, I promise I will update** **faster! Anyway, away we go! Hope you enjoy, and don't forget to R & R!**

-Ooo-

**For the Love of the Game**

Chapter 1

_Katniss_

_Reaping day._ That was the first thing Katniss Everdeen thought when she awoke that dreadful morning. She turned her head to the right to find her twin sister, Kyla, still lost in sleep with a small smile stretched across her face. It crossed Katniss' mind if she looked like that when she slept. Across the room, her younger sister, Prim, was cuddled up with their mother in the [only] other bed in their small household.

Katniss quickly changed into her hunting clothes, slid into her hunting boots, pulled her long dark hair into a ponytail (when was it not?), and slipped her fading forest green baseball cap onto her head before gently shaking her twin sister's body in order to wake her up, whilst not waking the others. Kyla's blue eyes - different, but yet, so similar at the same time to Katniss' – slowly opened and she lazily shook her head, letting Katniss know that she would not be joining her this frightening morning for an early hunt. Kyla slowly turned her body away from her sister, so that she was facing the wall.

Katniss sighed. Ever since her father's death, she knew that the twins had been steadily growing apart. They didn't rely on one another as much anymore, and would rarely hold decent conversations with each other. Katniss missed pulling pranks on all the annoying and rude kids at school, and knew deep down in her gut that Kyla did, too. They didn't know why, nor what, caused them to begin to split apart, but Katniss knew that nothing could permanently change the two forever. They were twins, after all.

As Katniss begrudgingly walked out the creaky front door of their small house, and passed the two leather gloves that were carelessly sitting on the small coffee table next to the door, she was pained with a thought. When was the last time the twins had actually thrown their baseball around together? Katniss promised herself that after today, maybe even today, she would make an effort to spend more time with her sister, and show her that she still truly cared for her, no matter what obstacle got in her way.

-OoO-

_Kyla_

Kyla had always known she was a strange child, especially when all the girls from town started to poke fun at her. Her older sister was always there to protect her, though and if she wasn't, there was always the unknown blonde boy from town that always came to save the day. Peeta. That was his name, though Kyla didn't know it. She always wondered why he protected her when Katniss wasn't around, but that wasn't important. She had better things to worry about than some blonde hair, blue eyed town boy who always stared at the two sisters.

Reaping morning, Kyla was awoken early by Katniss. She already knew the question her sister would ask and absentmindedly shook her head as her answer. _No. _But, truth be told, she kind of wanted to go on the early morning hunt with her sister, but what if they came across that other boy that was always out in the woods, as well. Gale. Kyla had seen the way he looked at her sister, and it made her uncomfortable when he was around the two of them.

On another note, Kyla was particularly frightened about the concept of today's reaping. The 75th Annual Hunger Games, otherwise known as the third Quarter Quell. At age seventeen now, Kyla knew the odds were certainly not in the sisters' favor, counting all the extra times they had entered their name due to tesserae. She did not know the twist to this year's games and expected to learn at the reaping itself.

Kyla lay on the bed she shared with Katniss for several more minutes before lazily rising from the bed, knowing that in no way would she be able to fall asleep again. She quickly changed herself into some comfortable clothing, pulled her hair into a tight ponytail, and slipped on her own fading blue baseball cap before making her way out the front door of the house.

Her mind didn't seem to know where she was going, but her feet seemed to. Soon, she found herself standing in the midst of the meadow, overlooking her quiet district, and in her hands, though she hadn't noticed before, were the twin's two leather gloves. She glanced down at them and then smiled knowingly. Hopefully, her sister would be back soon, so they could play a quick game of catch before the dreaded event known as the reaping.

Apparently, Kyla had been fallen asleep in the meadow because a few hours later, she awoke to her twin gently shaking her half-asleep body. The two gloves sat carelessly to her side, and she was using her right arm as a pillow. Katniss grinned at the sight of the two gloves, watched her game bag drop to the floor, and pulled her glove onto her right hand. There was another difference about the twins; Kyla was right handed while Katniss was left handed. They hadn't planned it like that. It kind of just… happened.

Kyla jumped to her feet at the sight of Katniss with her glove on and the baseball in her left hand. She gently tossed the ball into the air as she waited for Kyla to slip her own glove on to her hand.

Kyla was ecstatic. They were going to do it. They were finally going to play catch again after all this time. For about an hour or so, the twins did. They smiled, threw the ball back and forth, smiled, and smiled some more. And when they laughed, they looked like the happiest pair of twins in all of Panem. When it was time to go, the twins let out groans in synch and dragged themselves back to their house.

When they arrived, two tubs full of steaming hot water awaited them. While their sister, Prim, changed into her reaping clothes (hand me downs from the twins), the twins stripped down and each stepped into the tub of their choice and hurriedly cleaned themselves up. Two identical dresses awaited them when they stepped foot out of the tubs. The only difference, one was green, the other was blue. _So mother did remember our favorite colors_, thought Kyla. _But she forgot the fact that the both of us despise dresses._

Once the twins had finished dressing and they had nimbly done each other's hair, they decided it was time to go. After briefly telling their mother that it was time, Prim, who was in a ruffled white blouse and skirt, took one of each of the twin's hands and held on tightly, as if for dear life, which in this case, it kind of was. When they arrived at the Town Square and had to disperse into sections, Kyla could tell Prim was fretful. Kyla and Katniss both comforted her, telling her it would be okay and that they'd see her soon. They promised. After a quick goodbye, the two quickly made their way to the section that was designated for the seventeen year old girls.

All was deathly quiet when several minutes later, Effie Trinket walked onstage. Kyla gripped Katniss' hand so tightly, she was afraid she would stop her sister's blood flow.

"Welcome, welcome, and happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor."

"Now then, today, President Snow has a very important announcement to make about the 75th Annual Hunger Games!" Effie concluded in her (more than) obnoxious Capitol accent.

On the stage screen, President Snow appeared alongside a young boy who held the box filled with the many Quarter Quell envelopes. President Snow read the two previous cards and then picked the crisp white envelope that held the fate of every citizen in Panem.

Kyla gripped her sister's hand even tighter.

President Snow then read, "As a reminder to the rebels that even brother turned against brother and sister turned against sister during the Dark Days, this year's tributes will be selected from the pool of each district's eligible sets of twin brothers and sisters."


End file.
